The General Electric GEnx (General Electric Next-generation) is an advanced turbofan under development by GE-Aviation for the Boeing 787. After the initial unveiling, GE Aviation decided to also offer the engine for the original Airbus A350, and not the current render of the Airbus A350XWB. It will be the sole engine for Boeing's new Boeing 747-8 The GEnx is intended to replace the CF6 in GE's product line. Schematic diagram of high-bypass turbofan engine CFM56-3 turbofan, lower half, side view. ... GE-Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio (a Cincinnati suburb). ... Boeing Commercial Airplanes, based in Renton, Washington, is a unit of The Boeing Company, consisting of the Seattle-based former Boeing Airplane Company (the civil airliner division), as well as the Long Beach-based Douglas Aircraft division of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation. ... The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide body, twin engined jet airliner currently under development by Boeings Commercial Airplanes unit and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. ... This article is about the airliner manufacturer. ... A350 may refer to: The Airbus A350, a development of the A330 to compete with Boeings 787 The A350 road in southwest England. ... “A350” redirects here. ... The Boeing 747-8 is the latest variant of the Boeing 747, officially announced on November 14, 2005 as an evolutionary development of the Boeing 747-400. ... CF6 turbofan at the KLM engine shop The General Electric TF39 and CF6 family of high-bypass turbofan engines are the most popular large aircraft turbines in the world, powering civil and military widebodies from a variety of manufacturers. ...

History and description

The GEnx and the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 were selected by Boeing following a run-off between the three big engine manufacturers. Pratt & Whitney's proposal was unsuccessful, possibly due to having been an all-new, and thus untested, design. The GEnx uses some technology from the GE90 turbofan, including composite fan blades and composite fan case. Rolls-Royce plc is a British aircraft engine maker; the second-largest in the world, behind General Electric Aviation. ... Rolls-Royce Trent 900 on A380 prototype Rolls Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce. ... Pratt & Whitney is an American aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. ... NASA GE90 airflow simulation General Electric GE90 is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines built by General Electric for the Boeing 777, with thrust ranging from 74,000 to 115,000 lbf (329 to 512 kN). ...

For the first time in commercial aviation, both engine types will have a standard interface with the aircraft, allowing any 787 to be fitted with either a GE or RR engine at any point in time. Engine interchangeability makes the 787 a far more flexible or liquid asset, allowing airlines to change from one manufacturer's engine to the other's in light of any future engine developments or when acquiring 787 from other operators/lessors. The engine market for the 787 is estimated at US$40 billion over the next 25 years. Market liquidity is a business or economics term that refers to the ability to quickly buy or sell a particular item without causing a significant movement in the price. ...

Another first is the elimination of bleed air systems, which use high temperature/high pressure air from the engine to power aircraft systems, e.g. air-conditioning and anti-ice systems. The GEnx and the Trent 1000 allow a move towards the "electric" airplane. Bleed air in jet turbines is compressed air taken from within the engine, after the compressor stage(s) and before the fuel is injected in the burners. ...

The GEnx is expected to produce thrust of 55,000 to 75,000 lb_f (245 to 334 kN) with first tests commencing in 2006 and service entry by 2008. While Boeing predicts reduced fuel consumption of up to 20% the 787's engines are also expected to be significantly quieter than current turbofans. The pound-force is a non-SI unit of force or weight (properly abbreviated lbf or lbf). The pound-force is equal to a mass of one pound multiplied by the standard acceleration due to gravity on Earth (which is defined as exactly 9. ...

A 66,500 lb_f thrust version (GEnx-2B67) will be used on the 747-8. Unlike the initial version for the 787, this version includes a traditional bleed air take-off system to power internal pneumatic and ventilation systems. This version will also have a smaller overall diameter than the initial model to accomodate installation on the 747. Compared to previous 747s, the 747-8 Intercontinental is stretched in two bands for a total extension of 11. ...

Although General Electric was to have supplied a variant of the GEnx for the original Airbus A350 derivative proposal, GE has yet to reach an agreement with Airbus to power the all-new A350XWB proposal. This aircraft, which replaces the earlier proposal, is intended as a Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 competitor. Rolls-Royce is about to develop yet another version of the Trent for this application. “A350” redirects here. ... The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide body, twin engined jet airliner currently under development by Boeings Commercial Airplanes unit and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. ... The Boeing 777 is an American long-range wide-body twin-engined airliner built by Boeings Commercial Airplanes division. ...

General Electric has a 64% risk-sharing stake in the GEnx program. Other stakeholders include Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) at 15% and Avio at 12%. Volvo Aero, Techspace Aero, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Samsung Techwin hold the remaining share. Notably absent is General Electric's frequent partner, Snecma, which has historically been GE's largest partner on aircraft engine projects. Snecma may still supply parts, however, but is deeply involved with the PowerJet joint venture. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. ... Avio S.p. ... Volvo Aero, a subsidiary of Swedish company Volvo, develops and manufactures components for aircraft and rocket engines with high technology content in co-operation with the world’s leading engine manufacturers. ... Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) (三菱重工業, Mitsubishi JÅ«kōgyō) TYO: 7011 is a Japanese company. ... Samsung was founded in 1969, and one of its subsidiaries, Samsung Electronics Co. ... Société Nationale dÉtude et de Construction de Moteurs dAviation or SNÉCMA is one of the worlds leading aerospace corporations, specialized in propulsion, equipment and associated services. ... PowerJet (Двигатель) is a 50/50 joint venture between Snecma Moteurs of France, and NPO Saturn, of Russia. ...

General Electric began initial test runs of the bleedless GEnx variant on March 19, 2006.^[1] The first flight with one of these engines took place on 22 February 2007, using a Boeing 747-100, fitted with one GEnx engine in the number 2 position. March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... The Boeing 747, commonly nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, is among the most recognizable jet airliners, and is among the largest passenger airliners. ...

Technology

Despite being derived from the GE90, the GEnx features a number of weight-saving innovations:

• Fan diameter:111in (2.82m) for the 787-8, and 105in (2.64m) for the 747-8.
• Composite fan blades with titanium leading edge
• Fan case also made of composite material

Fuel burn reduction technologies include:

• Fan bypass ratio of 9.5:1 which also reduces noise
• High pressure compressor based on that of GE90-94B, pulling 23:1 pressure ratio
• Counter-rotating spools
• Combustors with improved internal airflows which also reduces environmentally-harmful emissions

And features to reduce maintenance and increase engine life such as:

• Spools with lower parts count
• Cooler internal engine temperatures using more efficient cooling techniques

All these should yield a fuel burn of at least 15% better than GE's CF6-80C2 engines for widebody aircraft. It is available in both normal bleed configurations (as in Boeing 747-8) and bleedless configurations (as in Boeing 787).

Engine selections

Boeing 787

GE-Aviation had somewhat of a slow sales start on the 787, but has since caught up. In what many consider to be the most significant Boeing 787 order, that of Japan's All Nippon Airways, the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 was selected as the engine on October 13, 2004. The Japanese deal was considered vital by both companies, due to the size of the order (valued at US$1 billion (£560 million)) and the trend setting decisions of the carrier. GE & PW previously were the engines of choice in the Japanese market. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide body, twin engined jet airliner currently under development by Boeings Commercial Airplanes unit and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. ... All Nippon Airways Company, Limited , TYO: 9202 , LSE: ANA), also known as ZennikkÅ« ) or ANA, is an airline headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. ... Rolls-Royce plc is a British aircraft engine maker; the second-largest in the world, behind General Electric Aviation. ... Rolls-Royce Trent 900 on A380 prototype Rolls Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce. ... October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On February 27, 2007, Qantas has announced that they have selected the GEnx for their upcoming Boeing 787 fleet, with a total of 45 orders. February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... Qantas (pronounced ) is the name and callsign of the national airline of Australia and the worlds third oldest continuously running independent airline behind KLM and Avianca. ... The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide body, twin engined jet airliner currently under development by Boeings Commercial Airplanes unit and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. ...

As of April 2007, GE currently has the most engine orders for the 787, with a total of 270 orders vs. 125 orders for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000. Currently, GE's largest customers on the 787 include Qantas and Air Canada. Certification is expected to be achieved in the latter half of 2007.^[2] Qantas (pronounced ) is the name and callsign of the national airline of Australia and the worlds third oldest continuously running independent airline behind KLM and Avianca. ... Air Canada is Canadas largest airline and flag carrier. ...

Airbus A350

Initially GE-Aviation benefited from being named as lead supplier for the A350 engine, winning early engine orders for 105 A350s (as of June 17 2005) by default. However, on July 17, 2006, Airbus announced a major redesign of the A350, including adding XWB (Xtra Wide Body) to the name, as many airlines considered the old derivative approach of the aircraft uncompetitive with the Boeing 787. Rolls-Royce reached an early agreement with Airbus to supply a brand new variant of the Rolls-Royce Trent, known currently as the Trent XWB for all A350 XWB variants. Meanwhile, GE is in talks with Airbus about offering a version of the GEnx for the A350-800 and -900 XWB. The A350-1000 XWB will not be available with GEnx engines, nor the Engine Alliance GP7000.[1] June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Rolls-Royce Trent 900 on A380 prototype Rolls Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce. ... The Engine Alliance GP7000 (known as the GP7200 for a brief time period) is a new turbofan jet engine that will incorporate advanced technologies of proven wide-body products, originally from the worlds No. ...

Boeing 747-8

Boeing has awarded an engine contract for the 747-8 to GE-Aviation, who will provide the GEnx in exclusivity. The Boeing 747-8 is the latest variant of the Boeing 747, officially announced on November 14, 2005 as an evolutionary development of the Boeing 747-400. ...

References

Flight International is a magazine relating to airlines, general aviation, and aerospace manufacture. ... March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (81st in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Aviation Week & Space Technology (often abbreviated as Aviation Week or AW&ST) is a weekly magazine which reports upon the state of the aerospace industry. ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

External links

• GE GEnx website
• First flight with this engine